Confident Childbirth - Evidence through Research

1. Wales:
Dr Mary W Jenkins and Dr M.H. Pritchard, Hypnosis: Practical applications and Theoretical Considerations in Normal Labour, British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, March 1993, Vol 100 pp221-226. A 5 year-study, based on data recorded in the labour ward, comparing 252 women who'd had 6 sessions of hypnotherapy, with a control group of 300, same age to within 2 years. Only normal deliveries included in the control group.

• Average length of first stage of labour for women's first birth: 6.4 hours after hypnosis, 9.3 hours in control group.
• Average length of first stage of labour for women's second or subsequent birth 5.3 hours, compared to 6.2 hours.
• Pain relief: first baby: 50%+ of control group had more than 100g of pethidine, compared with less than 10% of hypnotherapy group.
• Pain relief: 2nd+ baby: nearly 60% of control group had more than 100g of pethidine compared with 33% for hypnotherapy group.

2. Toronto:
A city-wide retrospective survey. Self-referred first-time mothers, low risk, who had four 2.5-hour hypnosis sessions, were compared to similar controls, with variations per hospital noted for the controls.

• Epidural rates: 40-95% of control (depending on hospital) compared to 18% for hypnotised group.
• Caesarean rates: 20-25% of control compared to 6.7% for hypnotised group.
• Average length of labour for non-hypnotised women having first baby - 12 hours. Hypnotised women averaged 5.5 hours.

3. Florida:
A.A. Martin, P.G. Schauble, The effects of hypnosis on the labour process and birth outcomes of pregnant adolescents, The Journal of Family Practice, May 2001, Vol.50, No5.
In this Florida-based study, 47 pregnant teenagers were randomly assigned either to supportive counselling or to hypnosis. They received 4x1hr sessions at 2-week intervals. No hypnotherapist was present during labour and results were entered by unaware obstetrics staff.

• Medical intervention (including induction, forceps, ventouse, Caesarean): 60% of control group, i.e. 12 of the 20 patients compared to none of hypnotised group of 22 patients.
• Hospital stay of 2+ days: 40% (i.e. 8) of control group compared to 4.5% (1) of hypnosis group.

4. Wisconsin:
TM Harmon, MT Hynan, TE Tyre, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. In 1990, the benefits of hypnotic analgesia as an adjunct to childbirth education were studied in 60 nulliparous women. Subjects were divided into high and low hypnotic susceptibility groups before receiving 6 sessions of childbirth education and skill mastery. Half of the subjects in each group received a hypnotic induction at the beginning of each session; the remaining controls received relaxation and breathing exercises typically used in childbirth education. Both hypnotic subjects and highly susceptible subjects reported reduced pain. Hypnotically prepared births had shorter Stage 1 labours, less medication, higher Apgar scores, and more frequent spontaneous deliveries than control subjects' births. Highly susceptible, hypnotically treated women had lower depression scores after birth than women in the other 3 groups.

5. Vermont:
A study by a researcher at the University of Vermont divided 100 women into two groups. There was a control group, and the other received hypnosis with suggestions for general relaxation and release of fear and anxiety. While under hypnosis, the women were also asked why their baby was in the breech (bottom down) position. The study, which appeared in the Archives of Family Medicine, reported that 81% of the babies moved to the head-down position, a massive improvement on the results achieved by ECV, a medical procedure called external cephalic version performed by an obstetrician.

6. Adelaide:
Research at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, where hypnosis is used for women in labour, shows it is highly effective. A study showed that women taught self-hypnosis reduced their need for analgesia by half, epidurals by 70 per cent, and were more than twice as likely to be satisfied with their pain management in labour compared with other women.

From an article in the Health pages of The Independent dated 30th January 2008 entitled "New research demonstrates effectiveness of hypnosis for labour"

7. Apgar score:
At one and five minutes after the birth, attending staff monitor the baby's pulse, respiration, muscle tone, skin colour and response to stimuli. They award points for each, to arrive at what is called the Apgar score: the higher the healthier. There is research that shows that babies born to mothers who've used hypnosis for the birth have higher Apgar scores.

8. Morning sickness:
Nausea, sometimes to the point of vomiting is normal in the first trimester. It is so called because the morning is when most pregnant women experience it, but in reality it can happen at any time of day or night. Whilst some few women never get it at any time in the pregnancy, most experience at least some mild morning sickness. In a few women it can be severe - this condition is called hyperemesis gravidarium and may lead to dehydration. Hypnotherapy can heal morning sickness. Research confirms this.

9. Pre-eclampsia:
This is a condition which occurs only during pregnancy, or immediately after delivery of the baby. Women develop high blood pressure together with protein in the urine and fluid retention (oedema). Symptoms include sudden swelling of feet and ankles, rapid weight gain, vision problems (blurring or flashing lights in front of the eyes), abdominal pain and headaches. Pre-eclampsia develops in about 1 in 10 pregnancies, usually after the sixth month of pregnancy. Most cases are mild, develop towards the end of the pregnancy, and are easily treated. However, in a severe form it can be life-threatening for both mother and baby. It seems that hypnotherapy can prevent pre-eclampsia, but not heal it once it's established.

Hypnosis in Childbirth - A Medical View

A quote from Dr Anna Zohrabian and Dr Rumi Peynovska

"In obstetrics an ideal anaesthetic agent should fulfil three essential requirements:

1. It should be able to afford complete relief from pain however severe
2. It should not interfere with the normal mechanisms of labour
3. It should not depress either the respiration or the cardiovascular system of the child.

The most effective chemical agent is at best a compromise but hypnosis fulfils all three requirements and is called the ideal anaesthetic in obstetrics. Hypnosis is the only known no-risk painkiller."